johnson



s UNITED A E Y flanges of certain forms on either side," by

' curbing and rolling would be virtually but one To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

.T-1'ail, and also show plainly the form," loca- 7 tion, and proportion of theside flanges added It will be seen from the drawing that this done at small expense, and immediately af- IPATE T Er ca.

- .RAlLR O AD T-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,655, dated January 29, 1884-. V I Applicalion filed Februar 20,1883. (X0 model.)

Be it known thatI, Torr L. JOHNSON, of

Indianapolis, inthe county of Marion and State 1 I of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in T-R-ails for Steam-Railroad Traffic in Cities, which improvement is fully set forth and illu strated in the following speci- .iication and accompanying drawing. V

Theobject of this invention is to produce a double-flanged T-rail having the strength and proportionof the ordinary T-rail, but with which additions a rail of the strength and pro 1 portion aforesaidis much better adapted for use in the streets of a city, for thoughmore particularly designed for. the use of steam- .railroads running through the streets of cities, said rail is also specially adapted to be used with equal advantage by city street-cars.

Referring to the drawing, which is a crosssection of my rail, a indicates the head of the. rail. 12 1) indicate the flanges as the same ap- .pear when the rail is first rolled. I) b indicate the side flanges when the rail has had the side flanges turned upward. 0 indicates the web, and d (1 indicate the lower flanges of the rail. 6 e c 0 indicate the head of an ordinary thereto.

rail is of an ordinary T-rail form, withthe addition of two side flanges. I11 rolling this rail the flanges can be left as shown by the dotted lines I) b, and afterward turned up and bent over by special machinery, or, by giving the rail one pass while in the vertical position shown in the drawing, it is possible to properly bend up the extreme ends of the flanges. It will be necessary toput draft enough in the passage, of the rail through the forminggrooves of the rolls on its head a and lower flange, d d, to hold or steady the rail while the flanges b b are being bent. This could be ter the process of rolling. However, by "putting the, bending-groove in the same rolls as those which are used for shaping the rail the 'of the flanges on its either side.

process, effected. complete at the same heat- %t is well known that in the laying of a T- rail of ordinary section in the streets of a city many disadvantages are incurred. In the first place, such rail presents a form that is not well adapted for bonding with, and hence keeping in repair the ballast and roadlway immediately in contact with it hence it is generally found that the ordinary T-rail,

when so laid, quickly causes that part of the street in contact with'it to become grooved and worn.

. YItfwill be seen that in the rail forming the subject of this invention the addition of the two side flanges forms'a' pocket on either side of the rail of such size and shape that the ballast, once entering the same, is not free to Ipancy of the same; hence, theballast being therein retained, the rail is bonded thoroughly with the street and the said street kept in good condition. A second disadvantage in the use of the ordinary form of T-rail, when laid in the streets of a city, is that, the heads of the rails being too narrow to act as passage-ways for the wheels of ordinary vehicles, the wheels of such vehicles which come in contact therewith will find a natural passageway along the sides thereof, being to a great extentguided by the rail. This 'wheel-passage quickly wears ruts or grooves in the streets, to their serious injury or destruction. Furthermore, if during its passage across said ordinary T-rail a wagon should slip, as wagons frequently do, sidewise, such friction against and over the partof the street immediately adjacent to the rail accelerates this wear. described such wear is prevented by means There is Width enough in these side flanges to .act as passage-ways for the wheels of ordinary wagons or street-vehicles, and thus prevent the wear of the street on either side of the rail by either rolling friction or friction caused by the It will be seen that in the rail herein.

slippage sidewise above mentioned. A third disadvantage attending the-use of the ordinary form of T-rail when laid in the streets of a city is that the solid head of such rail presents an obstruction to the passage of wagons and other vehicles over the same not only at angles more or less acute thereto but also at right an gles,particularly where th e streets have become more or less grooved or worn adj aeent to the rail, and its head therefore more elevated or exposed,whereas the two side flanges in the rail forming the subject of this invention present each a step or starting-point for such crossing at any angle from either side. The level of this step or starting-point is, therefore, by the curving upward of the extreme or exposedends of the side flanges, permanently preserved nearer to the level of the head of said rail, consequently the passage of vehicles across the head of either rail at anyv angle is thereby greatly facilitated.

It is known to be of advantage to sometimes turn a T-rail when the head has become worn more on one side than on the other. This can be done to every advantage when the addition of the two flanges herein described has been effected. It is further known to be somewhat difficult, with the ordinary form of streettempting to drive quickly upon such a track that the wheels of the wagon will run not only into but over these flanges to and upon the street adjacent instead of remaining in and on the flanges, as desired. Vhen this happens, it becomes necessary for a vehicle to make a wide sweep in order to return to the track at an angle to suit the headthat is to say, at an angle which will enable the wheels to mount over the head without slipping against the same, for it is difficult to surmount the heads of all rails laid in streets at an angle closely approaching the direction of the rail without straining the axle or warping the wheel of the vehicle by the friction or slippage that oc curs under these circumstances, whereas by the use of the double flange herein described it does not, under these circumstances, become necessary to remount the head to secure a passage-way on the flanges, as the wheels of the vehicle can use alternately the inside flange of one rail and the outside flange of the other, and thus do away with both the trouble expended and time lost in the detour, and also the risk of straining the axle or warping the wheel. The gage of the wheels of an ordinay wagon is not, as in railroad practice, a fixed thing, and in any given locality this gage is largely determined by the inducements offered by local circumstances. It would thus happen that where the use of these rails became general the gage of the ordinary vehicles would be quickly conformed to avail of the advantages thus offered. These double flanges offer the further advantage that when two vehicles approach on the same track they can pass each other without, in either case, mounting the head of a rail. It would become, in such cases, the practice to adopt the rule of using alwaysthe right-hand flanges-that is to say, the flanges at the right-hand side of the direction of travel. The limit of divergence here allowed without mounting the head of a rail would be limited only by the width between the heads of the two rails in track, which width would more than suflice for clear passage-way between the passing wagons, for they could, by running slightly to either side, pass each other and regain their places on the flanges without coming in contact with the heads of the rails.

It is further obvious that in retaining the general form and proportion of a T-l'ail the addition of a double flange secures the proper protection of the street or ballast 011 both sides of the rail. The width of the side of the head of a Trail overlapping the web does not present a pocket suiiicicntly capacious and of proper form for securely bonding the rail with the adjacent ballast of the street. It is true that this object might be effected by using a flange on one side and prolonging the head upon the other side of the rail but this could only be done by sacrificing the advantages of the form of a T-rail, now perfected by large practice and experience-advantages of particular value for the purposes of steam traffic, and of much value for streetcar trafiic.

I am aware that flat rails have been used for purposes of street trafiic with a central combination with a T-wcb and foot, have been.

used, and I do not claim such as of myinvention; but,

Having thus fully described the form, uses, and purposes of my said improvement, as of my invention, I clain1-- 1. As a new article of manufacture, a rail whose head, web, and foot are substantially of the form and proportion of the ordinary T-rail, provided with two side flanges intetegral with the body of said head and formed therefrom into side tracks for ordinary wheels of street-vehicles, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A T-rail having a central head provided with side flanges integral with the body of said head, and adapted for use as tracks for the wheels of ordinary street vehicles, the extremities of said flanges being curved, so as to facilitate the inflow of street-ballast on either side into pockets sufficiently capacious to bond said rail with the adjacent street material, substantially as set forth.

8. A T-rail having a flange on each side of its head integral with the body of said head,

and formed into two sidetracks whose ex- 'In testimony whereof l'sign this specificatremities are curved upwardforstreet-Vetion, in the presence of two witnesses, this'Gth 1o hicles, as described, whereby; great facility day of February, 1883.

is secured for the passage 0 such vehicles ,T across such rails at any angle thereto when [OM JOH3SO3f laid in track, and wear of street adjacentto Witnesses: said rails largely prevented, substantially as" JNo. OROWELL, Jr., set forth. .A. J. 1\IOXHA1\I\, 

